Toyota needs to do 'immediate damage control,' car expert says

Thursday

Jan 28, 2010 at 12:01 AMJan 28, 2010 at 1:47 PM

The Toyota recall will negatively impact sales for the auto manufacturer, predicted Junior Damato, a GateHouse auto columnist and auto shop owner. Toyota can address the deficiency in the accelerator in its recalled models by adding a “built-in” safety system to deal with the problem, Damato said.

Maria Papadopoulos

The massive Toyota recall will hurt sales for the auto manufacturer, predicted Junior Damato, a GateHouse New England auto columnist and owner of Juniors Automotive in Middleboro and Hyde Park, Mass.

“It’s definitely going to have an effect on their reputation. They’ve got to do immediate damage control to get this taken care of in a very fast manner,” Damato said Wednesday.

Toyota can address the deficiency in the accelerator in its recalled models by adding a “built-in” safety system to deal with the problem, he said.

“So if you are going along at 60 mph and your accelerator does stay at that position, as soon as you touch the brake it will automatically cut back engine power,” Damato said.

“I would think they would add that safety, build that into the computer, another safety override system,” he said. “If these cars had this, we wouldn’t be having this conversation today.”

Jim McKenna, 51, a mechanic at Bob’s Auto Body and Service in Brockton, Mass., who specializes in Toyotas and drives a 1997 Tacoma, said the recall is a result of a shift from cables to “drive-by wires” being used in the gas pedals.

“They’re still an awesome dealer,” McKenna said of Toyota. “You can tell because you don’t see them much in used car lots.”

By Wednesday morning, Damato said he had received more than two dozen calls from concerned Toyota owners.

People who own recalled cars must take their cars to a Toyota dealership, where they can get it repaired for free, Damato said.

“There is no fix for it as of right now,” he said of the accelerator problem.

“The only advice I can give anybody that has one of these cars, if you have a problem, the only thing that you can do is put the car in neutral,” Damato said.

Enterprise intern Robert Weitzman and correspondent Alice Elwell contributed to this report. Maria Papadopoulos can be reached at mpapadopoulos@enterprisenews.com.